Sep 17, 2012 – After battling through federal regulatory issues and environmental lawsuits, Shell’s Chukchi Sea exploration drilling program has gotten off to a rocky start. Soon after spudding the first well, the Noble Discoverer (mid-water drillship) was forced to move off location for a short time due to an encroaching ice floe. The latest setback occurred when the containment dome – used to contain uncontrolled oil flowing from a subsea wellhead – was damaged during testing. Without an operational containment dome, the company will not be able drill into oil-bearing zones. However, Shell will still be able to drill the shallow top-hole sections of several exploration wells before the short drilling season comes to an end.

Sep 20, 2012 – Xcite Energy has successfully concluded the pre-production well test in the Bentley Phase 1A work program. The test was built around two horizontal well sections (9/3b-7 and 9/3b-7Z) that represented an excess of 4,200 feet of net reservoir. Approximately 147,000 barrels of Bentley crude were produced. Results confirmed the existence of a large aquifer that should provide long term pressure support during production. Even with the aquifer in place, the oil-water ratio was far better than expected and provides important information for modeling long term oil recovery from the field. Both well bores will be suspended and kept available for use in the next phase of development. Drilling and testing were carried out by the Rowan Norway (400′ ILC). Once the test equipment on the rig has been decommissioned the rig be demobilized from the field and released back to Rowan.

Sep 19, 2012 – The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy introduced a policy of naming fields and discoveries after prominent individuals or events of national significance. The re-naming policy is an effort to parallel the importance of Norway’s offshore energy reserves with the contributions of people and events that shaped the nation. In this instance, the Draupne field is now the Ivar Aasen field. Aasen was a poet and linguist in the 1800s. He is credited with developing the Nynorsk (New Norwegian) language which aided in the modernization of the country.

Sep 19, 2012 – Premier Oil awarded a contract worth $24.3 million to Aberdeen-based energy consulting firm ADIL to provide people and systems for the execution phase of the Solan field in the UK North Sea. ADIL spent the previous two years providing similar services to the field’s former operator, Chrysaor, during the development phase. The contract will conclude once the field is brought into production, currently scheduled for 4Q 2014. ADIL personnel will oversee construction of the jacket and topsides as well as a 300,000 barrel subsea storage tank. Once brought online, Solan is expected to produce 40 million barrels of oil at an initial rate of 24,000 barrels per day.

Sep 18, 2012 – Serica Energy announced a farm-out agreement has been reached with JX Nippon for UK North Sea Block 22/19c. At present, Serica holds a 100% interest in the block. Once the UK government signs off on the transaction, JX Nippon will be the operating partner with an 85% stake. As part of the agreement, JX Nippon will pay $250,000 to Serica and bear all future costs associated with the license.

Sep 17, 2012 – Ithaca Energy announced that a hydraulic intervention to correct a production tubing blockage in well P1 has been performed with minor success. Gross production from the well is now between 700 and 800 bopd. P1, drilled in 2006, is the original appraisal well and was completed as a development well in 2011. A workover was contemplated by the Athena partners but it was determined that more value would be gained from producing the well in its current condition. The company did indicate that future attempts to further clear the blockage using facilities on the FPSO may be undertaken.

Sep 14, 2012 – EnQuest will formally become operator of Blocks 9/2b and 9/2c with the completion of its acquisition of an additional 15 percent from First Oil. EnQuest’s total stake in Kraken is now 60 percent.

Sep 14, 2012 – The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has approved Wintershall’s permit to drill exploration well 16/1-16 using the Bredford Dolphin (mid-water semisub). The well is located in 370 feet of water in PL457.

Sep 19, 2012 – Chevron continues a successful run in the Greater Gorgon area offshore Western Australia with the announcement of positive results from the Satyr-2 exploration well. The company has confirmed that the well intercepted a net gas column of 128 feet. Satyr-2 was drilled to a depth of 12,454 feet by the Atwood Eagle (DW semisub) in permit WA-374-P. This marks Chevron’s fifteenth discovery in Australia since mid-2009. Chevron’s Gorgon natural gas project is the largest of almost a dozen terminals planned or under construction along the country’s coast.

Sep 18, 2012 – INPEX awarded a contract worth $273 million to Technip for work related to the Ichthys LNG Project in the Browse Basin, Western Australia. Starting immediately, Technip will provide services concerning the preparation and execution of offshore commissioning of the FPSO and central processing facility. Completion of the contract is expected in 4Q 2016 when first gas is scheduled to be delivered. This is the third Ichthys contract awarded to Technip this year. The other two include agreements for engineering and procurement services and for the supply of flexible piping.

Sep 17, 2012 – Falkland Oil and Gas confirmed that their Loligo exploration well is a gas discovery. Drilling operations were carried out by the Leiv Eiriksson (UDW semisub). The well was drilled to a measured depth of 13,264 feet and intersected six-gas bearing Tertiary aged targets. Information obtained from the well will be used with existing seismic data to gain a better understanding of reservoir potential and distribution. The well will be plugged and abandoned but it is important to note that Loligo has proven a working hydrocarbon system in the northern part of the East Falkland Basin.

Sep 20, 2012 – Eni reports promising test results from the Sankofa East-1X well drilled off Ghana in the Offshore Cape Three Points block. The well was drilled to a total depth of 11,975 feet in 2,706 feet of water by the Transocean Marianas (DW semisub). Testing revealed 91 feet of gas and condensate pay as well as a gross oil column of 249 feet in Cretaceous sandstones. A production test of the oil-bearing zone delivered roughly 5,000 bopd; however, flow rates were constrained by surface infrastructure limitations. It is possible that the well will be suspended for future use in development operations. Eni plans to immediately drill other wells in the area to determine the size of the discovery and further evaluate the potential for commercial development.

Sep 19, 2012 – Bowleven’s latest Etinde appraisal and development well offshore Cameroon is now underway. The IM-5 well is being drilled by the Atwood Aurora (350′ ILC) in block MLHP-7. The primary objective of the operation is to establish reservoir and fluid properties in the Middle Isongo sands. An extensive logging, testing and coring suite will be performed as well. The well has been designed in a manner that will allow for use as a future producer. A second well will be drilled on the permit, the location of which will be determined by results of the IM-5.

Sep 17, 2012 – Ophir Energy wrapped up a successful 2012 drilling campaign with a gas discovery in the Fortuna West-1 exploration well on Block R offshore Equatorial Guinea. The well was drilled to a measured depth of 10,426 feet by the Eirik Raude (UDW semisub). Gas was encountered in the primary and secondary targets. The Felix Prospect was also intercepted and testing indicated promising results for future appraisal. Fortuna West-1 is the last of three wells in the company’s 2012 Block R drilling program. Combined results of these wells have increased estimates of in-place contingent resources from 116 MMboe to 500 MMboe.

Sep 14, 2012 – The Pearl Energy-led joint venture has awarded Clough and TL Offshore the platform procurement construction installation and commissioning contract. Clough will be responsible for the procurement, construction and commissioning portion of the work while TL Offshore will be responsible for offshore transporation and installation. Work is expected to commence in September 2012. Completion is anticipated in early 2014.

Sep 14, 2012 – The Pearl Energy-led joint venture has awarded Tanker Pacific Offshore Terminals the contract to carry out the conversion of the FSO to be used on the Manora field with work taking place in Singapore. Installation of the FSO is scheduled or early 2014.

Even though the construction of 7 billion cubic meter/year terminal at Musel is nearing its completion and should be running until the end of the year, it will not be put into operation immediately due to insufficient gas demand.

Following a governmental decree, issued in March, the terminal will be put into “hibernation period” thus saving up to Eur67 million ($88 million) in regulated costs on annual basis.

According to, Antonio Llarden, the CEO of gas infrastructure operator Enagas, which has been contracted for construction of the terminal “it will not be brought online until demand justifies it,” Platts informed.

Namely, analysts predict a rise in gas demand in 2012 of up to 2.5%, followed by a surging demand for LNG having in mind the ongoing interest for pollutant free energy sources. Based on the fact that Enagas recorded a 30% increase in international LNG sale in 2011, the company forecasts a rise in LNG demand in the upcoming period which could pave the way for operationalization of the terminal.

The facility of 300,000 m3 LNG storage space, featured in two tanks of 150,000 m3 capacity and 800,000 m3/h emission capacity will be piping gas between Musel and Llanera, where it will be connected to the already operating gas pipelines in Galicia, León and Cantabria. The design of the facility allows extension of both its storage capacity and emission totaling to 1,200,000 m3/h.

As Llarden pointed out, the Spanish Government plans to construct another LNG terminal on the Canary Islands, which should be included in a new infrastructure plan, covering the period 2012-2020 and Enagas already has its eye on the potential construction.

Optima is a leading provider of rig cooling services and associated products that suppress heat generated by the high-rate flaring of hydrocarbons during offshore well test operations. Established in 1999, Optima has grown rapidly and has served a diversified customer base in over forty countries from operational bases in Aberdeen, UK, and Perth, Australia. Optima’s expectations for continued growth are underpinned by excellent long-term relationships with key customers, increasing international expansion, and a robust market outlook.

“With this acquisition, we are accelerating our strategic goal of offering our customers a broader range of well completion and production testing services, and we are expanding our presence in many significant global markets. Optima is a strong complement to our existing portfolio of well completion and production testing services, and we believe we can add value for Optima’s customers through our experience in, and understanding of, those businesses. We are impressed with the relationships and market position that Optima has built and intend to support them within the TETRA family. In addition, we expect this acquisition to be accretive to our consolidated earnings in 2012,” commented Stuart M. Brightman, TETRA’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Managing Director and founder of Optima, Jamie Oag, stated, “We are very pleased with our new ownership structure. We see this as the next phase in our strategic plan, increasing Optima’s global presence in a manner consistent with our best in class safety and service quality performance standards.” Mr. Oag went on to say that, “Both my fellow founder, Peter Bartholomew, and I, will remain with Optima, along with the remainder of our experienced management and operations teams.”

TETRA is geographically diversified oil and gas services company focused on completion fluids and other products, after-frac flow back and production well testing, wellhead compression, and selected offshore services including well plugging and abandonment, decommissioning, and diving.

The Philippine Department of Energy orders Forum Energy to suspend exploration work at Service Contract 72 as the acreage falls within the area of a territorial dispute between the Philippines and China.

Otto Energy farms out a 15 percent stake in Service Contract 55 off the Philippines to Red Emperor Resources and signs a letter of intent for Maersk Venturer to drill the Hawkeye-1 exploration well in the block.

BW Offshore has confirmed that bodies of the remaining three crew members who went missing in the FPSO explosion in Brazil in February, have been recovered. With this, the total number of fatalities from this incident stands at nine. Two crew members remain in hospital, receiving medical attention and their condition is reported to be […]

‘Blue Queen’, the recently delivered, Ulstein-designed, platform supply vessel has landed its first gig in the North Sea. The platform supply vessel, named at Ulstein Verft on Friday, February 27, will be working in the spot market. On Monday, it embarked on its first assignment with Lundin Petroleum. “We are very satisfied that the ‘Blue Queen’, […] […]

Forum Energy, a UK-based oil and gas exploration and production company, has declared a force majeure on Service Contract SC72, offshore the Philippines. The company has said that Philippine Department of Energy (“DOE”) has granted a force majeure on activities in the area because it is situated within the territorial disputed area of the West Philippine Sea […]

Statoil has awarded the Johan Sverdrup SURF Detail Engineering and Services 2015-20 contract to IKM Ocean Design. Johan Sverdrup field is a large oil discovery in production licenses PL265, PL501 and PL502 in the Utsira High region of Norwegian Continental Shelf, 140 km west of Stavanger. The field development is a phased development. Phase one […]

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper has announced the bureau will offer more than 21 million acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Proposed Western Gulf of Mexico Lease […]

Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) has launched two pre-qualification contracts for the construction of the 105 km offshore pipeline section under the Adriatic Sea. The greatest depth the pipeline will be laid is 820 meters. According to TAP, the first pre-qualification comprises Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) works for the offs […]

DOF Subsea UK’s survey and positioning business in the UK and US has been awarded an extension of a Master Service Agreement with Heerema Marine Contractors of Leiden, The Netherlands. The contract covers global provision of survey and positioning services on board Heerema Marine Contractor’s vessels, including the Hermod, Balder, Thialf, Aegir and support […]

After the acquisition by LetterOne, the Hamburg based upstream company RWE Dea has a new owner, a new supervisory board and gets a new name. LetterOne is a privately owned Luxembourg-based global investment vehicle focused on utilizing its financial resources, management and investment expertise. At the first general meeting of shareholders a new supervisory […]

Technip has been awarded a contract from Tupi BV, a consortium composed of Petrobras Netherland BV (PNBV, 65%), BG (25%) and Galp (10%), for the ongoing development of the Lula Alto field, located in the Santos Basin pre-salt area, Brazil. This contract covers the supply of around 200 kilometers of flexible pipes and associated equipment, […]

McDermott Middle East, Inc. has been awarded initial work for a significant power supply system replacement contract by Saudi Aramco for the Marjan field, offshore Saudi Arabia. Work is expected to be executed through the fourth quarter of 2016 and will be included in McDermott’s first quarter 2015 backlog. The overall brownfield project comprises integrated […]

Bibby Offshore, a provider of subsea installation, inspection, repair and maintenance services to the offshore oil and gas industry, has made several Board changes as part of a reorganisation of the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) has launched two pre-qualification contracts for the construction of the 105 km offshore pipeline section under the Adriatic Sea. The greatest depth the pipeline will... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Statoil has awarded the Johan Sverdrup SURF Detail Engineering and Services 2015-20 contract to IKM Ocean Design. Johan Sverdrup field is an oil discovery in production licenses PL265, PL501 and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

McDermott International has been awarded a contract for a new jacket, temporary deck and replacement umbilical by Qatar Petroleum for the North Field Alpha gas development, offshore Qatar. According... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Technip has won a contract from Tupi BV, a consortium composed of Petrobras Netherland BV (PNBV, 65%), BG (25%) and Galp (10%), for the ongoing development of the Lula Alto field, located in the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

DOF Subsea UK Limited, a provider of integrated subsea services, announced that its survey and positioning business in the UK and US has been awarded an extension of a Master Service Agreement with... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

McDermott has been awarded initial work for a significant power supply system replacement contract by Saudi Aramco for the Marjan field, offshore Saudi Arabia. Work is expected to be executed through... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

James Fisher has acquired the entire share capital of Subtech. The initial consideration is ZAR61.0m (£3.4m) in cash plus potential future consideration up to a maximum of ZAR175.0m (£9.9m) based on... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Ireland’s Providence reported that the initial evaluation of the fast-track 3D volume has revealed seismic morphologies in the Drombeg prospect which are consistent with those of a large... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Chevron Australia’s Gorgon Gas Development Fourth Train Expansion Proposal, which is expected to expand the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity on Barrow Island from 15 to 20 million... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Statoil’s active leases in the Gulf of Mexico

The mortgage website HSH.com has updated its estimate of how much annual income a household would need to buy a home in major cities in the US according to fourth-quarter 2014 data. Compared to the previous quarter, home prices, monthly mortgage payments, and estimated salaries decreased across the board. The site looked at median home prices from the Nation […]

McDonald's has been losing US customers. The fast food giant needs to entice customers with new menu items while staying cheap. This is especially tricky because McDonald's menu is notoriously overloaded, leading to confusion in the kitchen and longer wait times in the drive-thru. A possible solution? The Chicken Big Mac. The Chicken Big Mac is j […]

At a black tie event I attended recently I heard that it's poor form for a guy to wear a wristwatch with a tuxedo. I had never heard this before, but apparently it's a topic that's been debated heavily in the men's fashion world. Our friend Justin Jeffers, who runs The Fine Young Gentleman andis the founder of Jay Butler shoes, gave us a […]

The story of climate change is closely tied to that of the carbon cycle. The increasing amounts of carbon dioxide hanging in our atmosphere — as opposed to being locked up in the world's oceans, soils, and forests — are leading to broken heat records and scary predictions of what our world might look like without ice sheets. To better understand how big […]

As teams scramble for one of the two potential franchise quarterbacks available, the NFL Draft is setting up perfectly for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags have the No. 3 pick and defensive end Leonard Williams of USC, a player many consider the best in the draft, could fall in their lap. Most in the NFL believe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will select a quart […]

Shares of Lumber Liquidators are flying higher on Tuesday, rising as much as 13% after crashing on Monday. Shares of the company fell 25% on Monday after a report on "60 Minutes" detailed apparent violations at some of the companies suppliers in China and unsafe levels of formaldehyde in its laminate flooring products. Lumber Liquidators said in a […]

Former Gen. David Petraeus could be headed for a minimal jail sentence after pleading guilty to mis-handling classified government information. But even if he's exiled from Washington's social circles, Petraeus will be able to retain his ties to private equity. Petraeus is also employed in Washington with one private equity firm as Chairman of the […]

Microsoft Excel is an amazing piece of software, and even regular users might not be getting as much out of it as they can. Improve your Excel efficiency and proficiency with these basic shortcuts and functions that absolutely everyone needs to know. 1. Jump from worksheet to worksheet with Ctrl + PgDn and Ctrl + PgUp 2. Jump to the end of a data range or […]

China and India, the world's two most populous states, share the world's longest contested land border. The two nations also have the dubious distinction of being the largest weapons importers on earth. Although China and India have attempted to improve relations, the two countries remain locked in a geopolitical struggle for influence. This compe […]

The crucial line in Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress on March 3rd was a mere five words long: "This is a bad deal." It's hardly a secret that the Israeli prime minister isn't a fan of the agreement currently coming into place between Iran and a US-led group of countries. But during his Congressional speech, Netanyahu flatly op […]

In a 'ripped from The Onion'-esque headline, WSJ reports that David Petraeus - the former director of the US Central Intelligence Agency - will plead guilty to a charge of mishandling classified information. The reitred military general, whose career was cut short by a very public affair with his biographer, reached a plea deal over sharing unautho […]

While the Hillary Clinton email fiasco is sure to be the talk of the town for the next few days, weeks, and months and may have seriously jeopardized the former SecState's chances at becoming America's next president, an even more important story is how the revelation that Hillary exclusively used a private, unencrypted and unsupervised email for 4 […]

Submitted by Peter Schiff via Euro Pacific Capital, Going into 2015 the economic outlook held by the U.S. investment establishment could not have been much more positive, and more unified. Pundits saw all the variables aligning to create the best of all investment worlds, a virtual "no-brainer" of optimism. Many believed that the 5.0% annualized gr […]

Well that didn’t take long. Just yesterday we noted that Japanese policy makers were starting to get wise to the fact that rampant monetization of government bonds can (and will) foster extreme volatility by robbing the market of liquidity and inhibiting price discovery. We went on to warn that with the BOJ greedily sucking up all gross JGB issuance (and in […]

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog, By this measure, the U.S. scores very poorly: 4 out of a possible 5 on the Fragility Index. There is a certain logic to the idea that stability is a good predictor for future stability: if a nation's economy and governance are stable and devoid of disorder, this trajectory of stability will be durabl […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the US Congress this morning at 11ET to issue a high-profile warning against what he considers an ill-advised nuclear deal with Iran. This brings to a head weeks of tension between Israel and The White House and numerous politicians (including The President) will boycott be absent during Bibi's spee […]

While the Clintons have had their share of funding snafus in recent history exposing the former "not truly well off" first lady as not only a puppet of not only Wall Street but also America's mega corporations, Hillary Clinton's use of personal email accounts as America's former top diplomat is a far more serious issue as it touches […]

The S&P 500 has given back all the gains from the US Open yesterday... when the CBOE "broke" and stocks went vertical... it seems it is time for the market to break again... Small Caps are now red for the week and S&P close... WTF!!! Are you serious?

This article in the Independent Sentinel was apparently developed from an interview that top conservative radio host Mark Levin conducted with broadcaster Susan Payne. Levin is a kind of conservative neocon from what we can tell and the Independent Sentinel seems to believe that radical Islam is the biggest threat since Prussia. But nonetheless, the determin […]

There have been anti-central bank demos in Germany, anti-EU demos across Europe and now there are anti-Monsanto demos in both South America and Europe, including Poland. The South American demos and protests have been going on for a while. But this protest in Poland seems fairly unique and shows once more how people are confronting a variety of authoritarian […]

One of the social mythologies of our time is that it is in the power and ability of governments to remake society in any image or shape that those with political authority consider "good," "right" and "just" for mankind. No other idea has caused more horror and hardship in modern times. The extreme attempts at such "social […]

My wife says I'm weird and she is probably right. First, I personally love cold weather, mountains and skiing, so why am I looking south? Maybe it is because the words of Jimmy Buffet's "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" keep going through my mind. Well, I enjoy cold and snow when it is out in the mountains surrounded by nature […]

Once one understands how much of the information band British media promotions occupy, it is difficult to watch the BBC for any length of time. Watch the Beeb for a day and be educated about how to believe and what to say. The Beeb is a prime exponent of dominant social themes. Each finds space for elaboration on news programming. These themes, in our view, […]